October surprises come late

Since the Nixon Administration’s announcement that “peace is at hand” on Oct. 26, 1972, political pundits have searched for an “October surprise” each presidential election season.

This year there was no such surprise, unless you consider several that were kept under wraps until the votes had been counted on Nov. 6.

The most obvious of these was former general and CIA chief David Petraeus’ extramarital dalliance with his biographer Paula Broadwell. Bodwell supposedly sent “harassing, anonymous emails to a woman she apparently saw as a rival for Petraeus’ affections,” according to The Associated Press. That woman, Jill Kelley, apparently traded thousands of flirtatious and/or sexually laden messages with Gen. John Allen, “possible evidence of another inappropriate relationship.”

However, the explosive potential of this real-life version of Wisteria Lane is that Broadwell may have used her relationship with Petraeus to steal classified documents from their safe government confines — to what extent and why still unknown.

What puts this in the category of an October surprise is that it would appear government underlings gave the White House plausible deniability until just after the election. Reportedly, the president only learned of the Petraeus affair the day after voting concluded.

Another surprise was Hurricane Sandy. When she hit just days before the election, President Obama was given the opportunity to look presidential — with the help of Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christy who reportedly hugged the president and cried while pandering for federal dollars. Unfortunately, for Mitt Romney it wasn’t until days later that Hurricane Sandy started looking like the Bush/FEMA debacle after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast.

On Wednesday, just over a week after the election, came word that New York residents trapped in their apartments were just being reached by rescue workers. And further, there were fears many would be found dead. Also this week, the head of the Long Island Power Authority resigned due to the agency’s poor handling of the power outages.

Meanwhile, Congress is finally getting down to an investigation of Benghazi and the murder of the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, and three other Americans. So stay tuned to see if this adds to the list of surprises, held until after the election.

Of course none of this changes Nov. 6 election results. President Obama ran a masterful campaign, especially if it included delaying the impact of any October-like surprises.

But where all this can make a difference is in the ability of the president to be taken serious for the next four years.

President Bill Clinton’s inadequacies did not come home to roost until his second term. He survived his escapade with Monica Lewinsky, but then became impotent when it came to his is ability to lead the nation and set public policy.

During President Obama’s first term he displayed little legislative leadership skills. This time around he may not either.